


Mothering

by LittleSweetCheeks



Category: Madam Secretary
Genre: Gen, Phone Call, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-23
Updated: 2020-11-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:16:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27677951
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleSweetCheeks/pseuds/LittleSweetCheeks
Summary: After Nadine's retirement, Elizabeth needs a bit of advice on how to make the boys behave.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 24





	Mothering

“Hey, Nadine.” She heard her former boss sigh heavily once the line connected. “How are you doing?”

“I’m doing okay. Packing up at the moment to fly out to visit with my son.” Nadine dropped the blouse she’d been folding onto the bed and sat down beside her suitcase. “How are you?” This was the first call she’d received from Elizabeth since resigning, though they’d exchanged multiple text messages.

“Hanging in there. I know I’ve been doing my best to not talk anything shop with you so you have a clean break, but… there is one question I’d like to ask you, if that’s okay?”

It was only because they both had been doing wonderfully at separating that she agreed. “Okay.”

“What was your trick?”

“Trick?”

“To getting them to not bicker and pick at one another.” She heard Elizabeth’s small groan of frustration. “All three of them! It’s driving me nuts. I’m about a day away from grounding them and sending them all to their respective rooms.”

Nadine laughed. She couldn’t help it. “I’m sorry for laughing, really. It’s just… I’m sorry.”

“So?”

“Who is fighting with whom?” She’d intervened many times between the three men who made up half the senior staff.

“All of them, they’re all at it. Matt’s ignoring Jay’s authority _and_ he’s taken to literally pushing Blake’s buttons with petty little things.”

“Like rearranging things on his desk and in the break room?” She’d caught him doing that on more than one occasion.

“Yes! And Blake then gets snippy back and when Matt pushes enough, then Blake’s just snippy with everyone. That’s irritating Jay because, as you know, he and Blake have to work in tandem and it’s really hard to work with Blake when he’s that far out of sorts.”

“And since Jay knows it’s Matt’s fault, he’s short with Matt.” Nadine finished for her.

“And since Matt’s already ignoring Jay’s authority, he’s not just stepping into line when Jay’s upset. It’s like a crazy endless spiral of all three of them and I was really hoping you could tell me how to stop it.” The last bit sounded a lot like begging as it rushed out, words run together.

She laughed again. It was, of all things, this that she actually missed about the job. She missed her boys the most. “Well.” Nadine thought a moment about what had worked for her in the past. “Start by making sure Matt knows you know what he’s doing to Blake. He’ll keep messing with him until either you make him stop or Blake snaps. Keep an eye on him though, because once he’s been called out, he’ll just do things that are more subtle.”

“Like?”

“I once caught him intentionally leaving coffee rings on the counter in the breakroom.” Nadine had been horrified when she’d caught Matt carefully making rings for Blake to find. Once she’d gotten home that night, she’d laughed about it, but at the time her biggest concern had been forcing Matt to clear it all up before Blake made another coffee run.

“Oh, jeez.”

She chuckled. “He knows what will wind Blake up the most and he does it. You really do have to send them to their rooms, so to speak, sometimes just to get them to stop. Give Matt something to keep him busy and put it on a deadline. If he’s buried under with work, he can’t stop to pester Blake.”

“Okay, so get Matt to leave Blake alone. Got it.”

“If that fails, assign them a task together and do not intervene. I promise they won’t come to blows.” She paused, the last word coming out under her breath. “Anymore.”

“Excuse me?” Nadine could hear the shock in Elizabeth’s voice.

“I’m pretty sure it was an accident.”

“What was an accident?”

“Remember that day Matt got a black eye just after lunch?”

“Yeah… No one was very forthcoming about how he got it _at work_.” Nadine could hear the lingering hint of frustration over being boxed out by her own staff. By the time Elizabeth had seen it, however, Nadine had already handled the situation so there was nothing more to be done.

“Blake elbowed him in the face.” Nadine admitted.

“What?!” Elizabeth’s voice shot up.

“Its… They swore it was an accident, that Blake didn’t know Matt was behind him.”

“And you believed them?”

“Of course not. But they stopped pecking at one another and that was all I cared about.” Realizing this call wasn’t ending anytime soon, Nadine toed her shoes off and adjusted so she was comfortable against the headboard. “Sometimes you just have to let boys fight it out.”

“I’d really rather it not come to that.”

She shrugged. “It might be the only choice. Now, as far as Matt and Jay, you’re going to have to remind both that Jay’s in charge now. You’ve rearranged the ladder and Matt’s probably just not sure how it works now that his friend is his boss. And… Jay’s probably a little worried about stepping up and telling them both to behave.”

“I can do that.”

“As far as Blake and Jay… I have nothing for you. They usually get along fairly well; they are no more or less equals now than before really. There is… There is one thing you should keep in mind, though. And this applies to all of them, but a lot to Blake.”

“What’s that?”

“Blake especially is a creature of habit. He needs everything the same. Always. He might be floundering a bit from all the upheaval. He went from a system and a hierarchy he was used to to the shutdown, me gone, and him in my place which put him technically in charge of Jay. Then, and with Blake’s blessing I know, you swapped them out and suddenly Jay’s in my spot and they’re really sharing the policy hat. That is… a lot of changes. If you want, when I get back from California, I could invite him out for a drink, but he really needs time to work through it on his own. Give him a puzzle. He’ll get there.”

“A puzzle?”

“Give him some mundane, but complex, issue to work through. Something to solve or sort or find. He’ll pout a bit and say you’re babying him, but it’ll help him process everything. Of course, be prepared to find him taking something apart as he does. He tends to process visually.”

“Okay. A puzzle.” She listened as Elizabeth went quiet for a minute. “I might know just the thing.” She sighed. “Thanks Nadine.”

“No problem. Keep an eye on them. They can do wonders, but they still need mothered.”

“I’m getting that. And here I thought I only had three kids.” Nadine heard her make a slight snort.

She laughed again. “I used to think I only had one.”


End file.
